Better Than High School
by PaigePussgurka
Summary: Nico had always been a loner, but there was just something about New York that was different. Maybe it was that guy his new friends were always talking about. What was his name again? Percy? / College AU Percico, Slow Building
1. Introduction

**A/N: **alright! at long last i give you the introduction chapter to my college au fanfic! huzzah! there is no percico in this chapter (so i won't tag it) but there will be eventually, this is just the intro. i will hopefully get the next chapter out this week, but until then enjoy! 

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Nico di Angelo wasn't exactly what you would call "studious". But couple natural intelligence with an eidetic memory and he had never had to be; especially not in the Los Angeles public school system. Nico wasn't a big fan of school, but _school_ wasn't to be confused with _learning_. He loved to learn new things and get new information, but he hated the score-dependency of school. Also the social aspects; Nico had never been good at _that_ part. The moment he'd walked into Hollywood High freshman year with shaggy black hair, dark bags under dark eyes, pale skin, and dark clothes, he was labeled the "creepy goth kid" and was avoided at all costs. After four years, the death of his mother and sister no longer garnered any sympathy, only further avoidance. He had ended up skipping lunch most of the 720 days he'd spent in high school because being hungry for a few more hours was better than the humiliation of eating alone. Still, Nico had survived and come out of high school a take-no-shit person with a solid 3.8 GPA and a 1980 on the SAT without having to put forth too much effort.

Yet surviving high school was not enough for Hades di Angelo, Nico's father. Nico had no interest in following Hades' footsteps to UCLA, nonetheless on to being a merciless corporate executive. He had been dragging his feet about college since the subject had been broached his junior year of high school, but once he started his senior year Hades pulled out all the stops. "If you don't pick a college by graduation," he had said, "I'll pick one for you."

True to his word, Hades levelled Nico with an unnerving stare the day of his graduation. "Nicolas, I need your decision immediately."

"Just give me until––"

"No. Right now. Tell me where you will be attending or _I_ will tell _you_." Nico didn't fear his father but he feared where the stoic man would have him go.

"New York," he blurted out, "I want to go to NYU." He hadn't honestly thought all that much about it, but he knew he wanted to get the hell out of southern California. So he went with the first place that came to mind that was on the opposite side of the country.

Hades raised a black eyebrow. "_New York_?" he said, as if Nico had just suggested that they slaughter a dozen pigs on Rodeo Drive in broad daylight. He might as well have said that, considering Hades was a born-and-bred southern Californian. The only thing that could have been worse than his only son going to _New York_, would be if Nico had _willingly_ chosen a school in northern California. That would be grounds for abandonment.

"Yes," Nico finally answered. His father let out a long-suffering sigh and nodded.

"Very well, then. I take it you've already decided on a major?"

"Not exactly…" Nico trailed off but realized quickly that "no" was not the answer Hades was looking for, "I was thinking history…?" This was met with another sigh.

"I suppose that will do. My assistant Alecto will help you register tomorrow," the older man made his way to the front door. Nico briefly questioned if he was supposed to apply before registering, but Hades was very capable of pulling strings to get his way and it was better not to question it. "Now, I believe we have a ceremony to attend."


	2. Start Spreading the News

**A/N: **ah yes i met my deadline im so proud of me. ok, so still no percico but! this is slow building so give it time. i'm gonna try to update this fic each week so hopefully the next chapter will be out by next saturday. enjoy! ovo

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Nico had seen Los Angeles a thousand times, he'd even been to San Diego before. But those were mere collections of buildings mislabeled as "cities" compared to what he was seeing now from the airplane window. New York City was massive. And not in the way that L.A. was, with it's overabundance of empty elbow room. New York was packed tightly, corner to corner, to the point where it popped the seams of it's peninsula and spilled out across the East River. It was remarkable even in the Friday afternoon sun, seeming to pulse with cars and pedestrians going every which way, and he was sure that it would be twice as remarkable lit up at night. Nico had never seen anything like it.

At that moment, he decided that New York had been a good choice.

By three o'clock, Nico was seriously rethinking that decision.

He had lugged his backpack and suitcase around JFK International Airport for a solid hour before finally working up the nerve to ask an employee how to get to NYU. The person had laughed for a moment before realizing that Nico was serious. "Just take the A Train from Howard Beach" seemed like simple enough directions until Nico spent another hour trying to figure out how to get to "Howard Beach". Begrudgingly accepting that he couldn't navigate in New York, Nico caught a taxi to Lower Manhattan.

By the time Nico stumbled into his dorm, it was already past 5:30 and he was beyond exhausted. He had wandered around the campus longer than he'd intended, but at least his dorm had been easy to find once he'd gotten to the central quad. The whiteboard on the door of the room was entirely covered by the name "Will Solace" –– presumably his new roomate –– written in fanciful script, but Nico was able to scrawl "and Nico" in the corner. He dumped his bags by the one empty bed, forced himself to ignore the juxtaposition of Hannah Montana and Aqualung posters on the walls, and headed back toward the nearest dining hall to grab dinner.

It didn't bother Nico to eat alone. It didn't bother him to do anything alone because, well, practice makes perfect and Nico had had a lot of practice at being alone. His sister, Bianca, had always been his best friend but once she had died –– which was almost eight years ago –– he couldn't exactly figure out how to approach social situations. So he opted to learn how to be alone instead. They say you become can a master after 10,000 hours of practice. Nico supposed he was a master loner by that logic.

He had gotten a bowl of fettuccine alfredo (that would never be as good as what his grandmother made but was better than the other options), found a table that was as far away as possible from the only other students in the room, and tried not to draw attention to himself. That plan was immediately foiled when a redheaded girl sat down across from him. Nico's dark brown eyes met a pair of bright green as the girl stared at him with a grin on her face. Each second their silent staring contest continued, Nico felt more and more uncomfortable. What was she waiting for, a musical number? Did she expect him to just up and leave? Because he had no plans to. While practicing being alone, Nico had also learned to stand his ground. Middle schoolers and high schoolers could be very persistent in their tormenting and he'd learned to outlast them. This girl would be no different.

At last she spoke, but not to Nico. Instead she shouted over her shoulder, "Grover! Get your ass over here!"

_'Ugh,'_ he thought to himself, _'Another one?' _The boy who approached them, presumably named Grover, looked about half hippie and half stoner. Nico had run into a lot of his type in L.A., and the loopy smile on the new arrivals' face told Nico that he would be no threat. Then the redheaded girl spoke again.

"I'm Rachel Elizabeth Dare," a freckled and paint covered hand was extended to him and Nico hesitantly shook it, "This is Grover. He's blazed out of his mind right now."

Grover laughed, "I totally am."

"Uh…good for you," Nico mumbled, "I'm uh…I'm Nico."

"Neeks," Grover dragged the word out, as if savoring it on his tongue.

"Um, yeah. Whatever." He moved to stand but Rachel's voice stopped him.

"We saw you sitting by yourself and you looked cute as fuck so," she shrugged, "You aren't giving off a New York vibe. Where're you from Nico?" He hated that question because for some God awful reason, people thought Hollywood was a glamorous place. He settled for a more general area.

"California."

"Seriously?" Rachel asked, eyebrows raised. Nico waited for some snide comment like "But you're so pale" but it never came. "So you've never seen New York?"

"Not really…"

That had been the wrong thing to say, because apparently never having explored New York was the biggest travesty of all time that had to be remedied immediately. Nico was just able to convince Rachel to let him sleep tonight by promising to let her drag him around the next day. They exchanged numbers –– reluctantly on Nico's part –– before parting ways for the night.

Nico had lived in Beverly Hills for all 17 years of his life and had made nothing more than a few acquaintances; but in the 4 hours he'd been in New York, he'd already been roped into a weird sort of friendship/acquaintanceship with two people. At this rate, he'd have actual friends by the time school started on Monday. He pushed these thoughts aside before they could send him into a tizzy as he came to his dorm room. The floor were two snoring lumps on his roommate's bed, but he decided he didn't want to know what was going on. He quickly stripped down to his boxers and a t-shirt then finally fell onto his bed.

Before he fell asleep, Nico considered that maybe––_just maybe_––this whole college thing would turn out better than high school.


End file.
